Action research and professional development in math,
science and technology education
One of the overarching aims of educational science is developing the
potential for changing education. Focussing on educational change
practice-oriented research, professional development and action
research is of particular interest. Practice-oriented research
develops its research questions directly from practice and feed back
results into practice, resulting in certain kinds of educational
change. Professional development engages faculty on a wider scale in
the process of educational change, and this may rest on a scientific
foundation.
Action research goes further, and integrate practice, the process of
change and professional development into the research process itself.
Practice-based research has in particular provided tools to
investigate student learning and examine the effectiveness of
different teaching strategies. Results have been proven to be
relatively robust and may be accumulated. The availability of these
results may in themselves be inspiring and empowering for teachers.
Action research, that recruits teachers into the research process,
may be motivating on a more fundamental level, but tends to be
small-scale in its implementation. Professional development may bring the
two together. During the workshop, we will explore the relation
between research and practice in
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. Learning
situations both in the classroom and outside school will be considered.
The workshop is aimed at
- teachers in the science faculty at
Göteborg university who are interested in educational science
- PhD students in the university graduate school "CUL" who combine
teaching and research
- Other PhD students with similar interests
Invited researchers
Wednesday April 2
- 9.30 Coffee
- 10.00 Introduction (Ann-Marie Pendrill)
- Charles Henderson (WMU):
The case of PER - Physics Education Research and
Research-Based Instructional Strategies
- 11-12 Small-group presentations and discussions
- 12.00 Lunch + ??
- 13.30 -14.30 Anne Egger:
Teaching the Process of Science
- 14.30 Small group discussion (new groups)
- Coffee
- 16.30 Short presentations by PhD students:
- Helena Sagar (CUL): Barriers and Potential for Using
Learning Opportunities outside school
- Ingela Bursjöö (CUL) Learning by competing
- Maria Ferlin (CUL); The roundabout as a metafor for PhD studies in
science education
-
Stinne Hørup Hansen: High-school students experience of a
science theatre performance
- 18: Dinner
- 20: Summary and Discussion.
- 21-?: Wine and Cheese
Thusday, April 3
- 9-10 Charles Henderson: Barriers to Instructional Change
- 10 Coffee
- 10.30 Anne Egger: Making
change happen: Strategies and resources.
- Discussion
- 12 Lunch
- 13.30: Where do we go from here?
- 15: Coffee
http://physics.gu.se/~f3aamp/cul/workshop_april.html,
14 Jan 2008, updated 1 April 2008, AMP